He's mainstream?!?! you have got to be kidding me. showme another drummer anything close to dave. and if you haven't checked out his band's cd (live and very plugged in) and then tell me that's "mainstream" i don't hear any other drummers with dave's style, or feel. he plays such odd timings, and has such a sweet style playin his bongo's and djemba dealy. i dunno, but this quote is way off dave, you must be talking about a different drummer.

I agree...I beleive that Dave Weckl's sound is quite unique... he has such amazing sensitivity...so many colours, just great. I have heard many people saying that they don t like him, and I just dont get them.
Hes one of my 3 favorites by far....along with gadd and cobham.

Dave weckl is a great drummer and probaly a great guy aswell but i find he kinda tries to show of and recks the music, i remember listening to him at a friends of mine and i nearly hade to ask him turn if off i just couldent listen to it it was just pure cheese (eleavator music ha) I find at times he tends to overpower the music and the band, But dont get me wrong he's a great musician and when he need's to can really Groove and lay it down.!If only he held back at times and thought about the music/band as a hole he could be The best.
It's all about the Groove..Without it thers nothing else......!

Dave I think is a great drummer, He's not all that of a Jazz drummer though like the ride patterns he does is more of a progressive rock pattern.
I'm not a big Jazz drummer though...
He's gotta be out of my top 5 fave. Drummers he's probably my 4th.

Dave is just such an unbelievable musician. He is continually getting better.

Absolutely! I remember a clinic he did back in the day where he said something like "I won't give you any double pedal advice, because I've only just picked one up and I don't know what to do with it." And now look at him with the double kick! Go Dave!

I am definitely a fan of Weckl myself....and in his defense of any reference to sounding UNoriginal and mainstream etc.....
I think it's because he was so copied and mimicked and now he sounds like he is "vanilla" to some people, when he was so so original when he first hit the scene round 85-86 when I 1st heard him.
I never will forget the solo on Paquito D'Rivera's GDANSK. My 1st exposure to him..... I NEVER heard ANYthing like what he was doing on that track. He at the time was very unique, sure he had alot of Garibaldi and Gadd influence..... but I dont think he sounded like them at all. MANY original things in my op....as well as some killer stuff with Michele Camillo (sp?).... ONTOP of starting a trend or being the biggest reason for the sales of the 8" - 10" tom set up on the bassdrum during that timeframe...albeit (w/ the Gadd/Colaiuta styled suspended small "floortoms") the Mullet with perm...hahaha...U saw many Weckl wannabes round berklee at the time...ask anyone.

I still love going to see him play when I can, last time was years ago when he still had Brandon on sax.....The man is precision and just as graceful and dynamic as they come on a drumkit. I realize everyone has opinions and taste...thats what makes it great...to each their own....I just had to mention that to me...he was very very innovative in the earlier day til' MANY people (including myself for years...set up....style....burnt out "back to basics vhs 2x.... lol)...Just now I can see where people would say he's blah and not original or unique when you compare him to a scene he was partly responsible for culminating what it is he is being judged against....if they didnt look back previous to B4 his solo stuff and later Chick stuff and to when he changed many things when he was hitting the scene.
just my 2 cents on Mr. Weckl.
Always ONE OF MY FAVES.....STILL IS.

wow...in my haste to post..I totally missed the thread about his kit on ebay.
Man...have seen so many legendary kits on ebay....there must be a thread on here somewhere about that...I mean some not so legendary but cool...haha
I remember seeing the Greg Bissonnette "Eat'em and smile" HUGE Yamaha kit on there as well as Tommy Lee's "Theater of Pain" white Sonors and perhaps the craziest one I saw was Neil Peart's candy apple red Tama's (from MANY albums)...I remember when he unloaded them on a modern drummer contest...anyone remember that ?...think was in late 80's. He had a contest, you send in a 2 minute long drum solo...the top 3 got one of his kits....1st prize being that red Tama kit (for the record the 2nd place prize and one I would have loved) was the mahogany Tamas from Moving Pictures among others....then 3rd place won the Slingerlands from the older Rush days. Man time flies.....seems like only yesterday I was cursing and throwing drumsticks around my bedroom in disgust. Trying to capture 2 decent minutes of my playing on cassette thru a beatbox (lol) to send in. I never did, instead just got many 2 minute clips of just playing as fast as i could and just a ball of energy with NO direction. I finally chickend out realizing who I would probably be going up against,.....I was right.
I guess I wasn't such a naive kid at that point. Anyway what were we talking about? haha

I am definitely a fan of Weckl myself....and in his defense of any reference to sounding UNoriginal and mainstream etc.....
I think it's because he was so copied and mimicked and now he sounds like he is "vanilla" to some people, when he was so so original when he first hit the scene round 85-86 when I 1st heard him.

Personally I hear absolutely nothing "vanilla" about him but then again I'm a big time Weckl fan so what do you expect me to say.

Personally I hear absolutely nothing "vanilla" about him but then again I'm a big time Weckl fan so what do you expect me to say.

Neither do I brother.....far from it ..... :)

Anyone here catch the "Chick Corea at the Maintenance shop" from 85/86 ?
Was when the band toured as a trio...Chick, John P and Weckl........great stuff. Was during his 1st go round with Sabian and he was then playing the 13" Old Slingerland Snare (6 lug) ..I believe.....I have old footage from a vcr recording I made and then converted to dvd....so quality is a little sketchy.......does anyone know if that was ever released in any fashion (vcr/dvd) ?

Having drum sets up to my ears here at home, has made me think about unloading the kits that are not being used much.. has no bearing on finances usually, and more on storage space.

Dave Weckl is one of the more important master drummers that have added to our collective "vocabulary". This puts him in an entirely different league with the likes of Tony, Elvin, Jack, Vinnie, Gadd, Bonham, Purdie, and many more who have developed a personal style and vocabulary that became so attractive and popular we "all" have a little bit of them in us. It is hard not to find a little of these guy's DNA in an accomplished drum set player.
How many of you have an 8" tom or 2 that you bought because Dave used one? I know I do. I am sure that 20k will by a nice new ProTools rig or muscle car:)
Check out some of Dave's new music/playalongs. I just bought one. I got a pdf, QT mov, full track and track w/o drums. 4.99 . (remember "sharing" is stealing)...great stuff as usual from DW.
Peace.

Just saw The Brothers at Wanee and they are tearing it up with WSP right now. Greg is sounding great I wonder if they get into something other than Melissa. I would love to here Dave and Greg do a Midnight Rider. Among others....

Other then this anyway. I saw years ago what I think was his first video. VHS tape. Back then he discussed holding the stick in his left hand at the end of the stick, and I see now that he has changed his grip back towards the middle of the stick. Has he ever discussed he reasons for the change? On the tape he said he was too powerful for the grip he now uses. I haven't read everything here if I've missed it already discussed.

Dave was the first drummer I ever watched... when I was 3 my dad sat me down on my toy kit in front of the tv watching Chick Corea n I got hooked pretty much straight away.

He makes the drums sound so great... the kit he was using in that concert sounded so great though. It was an outdoor concert recorded fully off the tv in the 80s so I think it mustve been a big concert, but I can't pinpoint it. Any Weckl or Chick Corea-heads help me out?

Dave was the first drummer I ever watched... when I was 3 my dad sat me down on my toy kit in front of the tv watching Chick Corea n I got hooked pretty much straight away.

He makes the drums sound so great... the kit he was using in that concert sounded so great though. It was an outdoor concert recorded fully off the tv in the 80s so I think it mustve been a big concert, but I can't pinpoint it. Any Weckl or Chick Corea-heads help me out?

There are a couple of CCEB concerts aired on tv. As far as outdoor concerts are concerned, I think that the 1991 Beneath the mask concert, filmed at Paul Mason's winery in Saratoga might be the one you mean.

Scott Henderson was just kicked out of the CCEB and Jamie Glaser played for a short time in the band before Frank Gambale took over. Im not sure what was aired as it was a japanese festival. The stuff I've seen from those concert series (as its a yearly recurring event are usually 3 or 4 songs from a performer.

It's been less than an hour since I left the jazz club where Dave Weckl was playing tonight with Mike Stern. It's actually the first time I've ever seen him in person. I've been listening to him since he became ubiquitous in MD for his work with Paul Simon and Chick Corea back in the mid '80s. I bought all the Chick Corea stuff he played on and he quickly became, and remains, one of my favorite drummers.

It struck me tonight watching Weckl that he really does have an exceptional sense of time (which I already knew, but it was cool to see). I was joking before the show that I was going to count how many times 4 bars could go by without him getting all virtuoso on it. I was guessing zero, but I was very wrong. He can be a great pocket player.

Like Bonzo great.

Perhaps incongruously, I saw my other favorite "Dave" drummer 3 weeks ago (Dave Grohl), so my new fantasy is to see Dave Weckl do a project similar to Queens Of The Stone Age or Them Crooked Vultures. Or just some contemporary rock project where he could surprise everybody by stripping down to a four piece with over-sized toms and big crashes and just release his inner Bonham/Grohl while supporting the song. It's there, I saw flashes of it tonight.

The debate between technique and Soul is a valid one, and the two are not mutually exclusive, however, one comment complaint of Weckl is that, while he possesses immense amounts of technique and feel, he doesn't pack a lot of "umph" when he plays. Other players, while lacking in technique, communicate a lot of energy and emotion anyway. I think Vinnie channels the highest level of technique and intensity together that I have ever heard, except for a few gospel drummers I suppose, and obviously some jazz drummers. I agree that Weckl's playing is a little empty. He's very beautiful to listen to, and his technique is 2nd to no one, but I"d rather listen to a lot of other drummers with less technique simply beacuse they communicate more to me, more emotion, more energy. It's hard to explain, but I understand people when they say this, and I agree.

I have to say that I made one of my dreams truth last Nov. 21st, when I saw Dave Weckl playing live for the first time in my life.

It was the Mike Stern concert at Mechanics Hall, Worcester, MA.

I had an awesome experience. Mike's playing and compositions were amazing and beautiful. Dave Weckl drumming was superb, tasteful and inspirational. Tom Kennedy and Bob Malach were phenomenal. Awesome, awesome expirience....

It would be really nice if I can meet Dave one of these days and study drums with him...Well, let see what the future has in store for me!

My favorite work of his is when he backed up Michel Camilo on 1989's "On Fire" disc. He kills, and it made me want to understand that contemporary sound.

If you don't have that album, it's a must. Joel Rosenblatt and Smitty are on it, too, and it's excellent!

I agree with you in the Michel Camilo stuff...This had been one of the greatest CD in my collection. The tracks "Island Stomp" & "And Sammy Walked In" are my favorites. Dave's playing drums on those two. Also "On Fire" with Rosenblatt on drums...Great stuff...

Name ONE drummer who plays more sophisticated fills than Weckl! By the way; there has never been, and will never be a drummer, or any musician, who can master all aspects of the instrument. Weckl could NEVER have mastered what, let's say Jeff Porcaro mastered, and vice versa (RIP Jeff.) Both were/are masters of the instrument, but are very different drummers.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Womble

Out of respect for Bernhard's wishes I shan't answer that, but anyways, you didn't quite get what I meant, which was - Weckl would name plenty of other drummers who have mastered all aspects of the instrument, and he would definitely tell you there are drummers who play more sophisticated fills.

I agree with you in the Michel Camilo stuff...This had been one of the greatest CD in my collection. The tracks "Island Stomp" & "And Sammy Walked In" are my favorites. Dave's playing drums on those two. Also "On Fire" with Rosenblatt on drums...Great stuff...

Cheers,

OK..on you two guys recommendation I will buy this CD...I'm sure it will be good..honestly I don't know if I've heard anything that Weckl plays on that I don't like...